State slows pace of building projects

On the campus of UW-Oshkosh Clow Social Science Center is undergoing a major renovation. The project was put on hold along with several other projects the State Building Commission approved which caused confusion among state legislators including panel members but now it is moving forward.(Photo11: Joe Sienkiewicz / Oshkosh Northwestern Media)Buy Photo

The renovation of a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh academic building won't be completed until 2017 at the earliest as a result of funding changes stemming from a state effort to more aggressively manage its debt.

Construction crews recently started the first phase of the $26 million renovation of Clow Social Science Center, which the State Building Commission initially approved in 2011.

The project is part of a $1.13 billion construction program that was funded in the current state budget, but has largely been delayed by the state Department of Administration. The department put the majority of the borrowing for the program on hold to allow it to proritize projects after the legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted to reduce new debt in the 2013-15 budget by $250 million.

Of the previously approved $1.13 billion in projects, the state has released bonding for $259 million and $34.8 million has actually been issued, said state Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, a member of the Building Commission.

The first of the two-phase Clow renovation is among the projects the department has funded.

"The work is getting underway, and there have been some holdups, obviously, with the state," said Tom Sonnleitner, the university's vice chancellor for administrative services. "The state wanted to make sure the resources were there with the bonding and everything else. We understand (the reason for the delay)."

While funding was authorized for the first phase of the project, the timing of the rest of the renovation is uncertain. The second phase of construction was initally expected to start this fall.

Hintz said he's been unable to get clear answer from the state about its plans to fund other construction projects that were authorized by the Building Commission and funded in the 2013-15 budget.

An expansion of the Health Services Unit at Oshkosh Correctional Institution is also among the projects still waiting for funding.

Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch first heard the commissioners' concerns about the status of the projects at the Building Commision's Aug. 6 meeting, department spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said in a statement. Huebsch then spoke with UW System President Ray Cross, who clarified the system's priorities in terms of building projects, and the department "will continue to move them through the process."

In addition to the first phase of the Clow renovation, two other University of Wisconsin building projects were funded this year after pressure from state lawmakers: a $28 million, 400-bed residence hall at UW-Whitewater and a $33 million, 350-bed residence hall at UW-Eau Claire.

"Neither residence hall has been designed yet, which will means they are delayed until the fall of 2018 at the earliest," Hintz said last week in a letter to Huebsch.

UWO officials hope to get funding for the second phase of the Clow renovation included in the 2017-19 biennial budget, so the site can be shovel-ready by July 1, 2017, Sonnleitner said.

Built in 1966, the 120,475-square-foot Clow center consists of a five-story faculty office building, a three-story-plus-penthouse classroom building and a lecture hall building. According to information the UW System supplied to the commission, the facility is in poor condition, and the labs and classrooms do not accommodate current teaching methods.

To accommodate the renovation, the college of nursing moved into a section of the building that will be renovated in the second phase. Other occupants, including the college of education and several liberal arts departments have temporarily moved into other buildings.

"We're happy that (the first phase) is underway and moving forward," Sonnleitner said. "Our faculty and students will be excited about finishing it, and so will we."